D.I.Y. SWIMMING POOL
As Remembered By Charles Agar
In the Spring of 1949 our Dog Section was moved from the Bomb Dump at Abu Sultan to the joint RAF /Army Domestic Site on the Treaty Road to a compound that had previously been used by the then departed RAF Regiment. There were only 5 of us living in two marquees and no one bothered us.
Dave Walchester, a former miner, thought it would be a good idea to dig a swimming
pool for us as the only entertainment there was an open air cinema built from
packing cases and ammunition boxes by the German POW’s. I must have been
affected by the sun as I agreed to help. We eventually had a hole 12 feet square
and 4 feet deep when it suddenly occurred to me that our hole was about the
same size as the station water tower and ‘The-Powers-That-Be’ may
not like us drawing off the whole supply. We were beginning to go
off the idea anyway because it was hard work; two men and two shovels. After
all, De Lesseps had more men to help him.
However, all was not lost as an idea sprang to mind. There were plenty of spare
marquees around and the Air Ministry Works compound nearby with a tame Clerk
of Works. He was most co-operative even though we had put several bullet holes
through the corrugated iron of his toilet – well it was quite interesting
to see a small entry hole and a rather larger exit hole on the other side. Anyway,
with the sides of the hole shored-up with corrugated iron we put a tent minus
sides over it with steps up to ground level where we erected another tent top
and after installing our water chatty there we had a lovely cool home with a
large pleasant leisure area. But ‘Sod’s Law’ says the boys
shouldn’t be comfortable and within a week I was posted to RAF El Firdan
and Walchester to Aden.